May as well enjoy your sunny Saturday of spring, but please don’t forget tomorrow afternoon to pay a visit at the Associazione Culturale “Il Delta della Luna”’s Fischerandom chess meeting!
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On November 13, 1998 Azerbaijan Post issued a stamp series featuring Disney characters for commemorating the World Rapid Chess Championship at Disneyland Paris. Imagine courtesy of colorofstamp.com.
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Dog day afternoon – a chihuahua poses in a photo booth at the 東京国際展示場 (Tokyo International Exhibition Centre). Photo: Franck Robichon/EPA.
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FIDE President Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov told Sovetsky Sport why four-time Women’s World Chess Champion 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) refused to take part in the Women’s World Chess Championship Knockout Tournalment at Tehran, Iran, ended in the early days of March.
— You spoke with 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán). Why did she not play in Tehran? — She has chosen to play the men’s circuit; she has her own plans. The Women’s World Chess Championship Knockout Tournament was not in her schedule. She has already joined the Grand Prix 2017 and played the first stage in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. And soon she will play the second one, which will be held in Moscow, Russia, next May. — But after refusing to play the World Championship Knockout Tournament, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) lost the crown. — Yes, 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí) is now the new Women’s World Chess Champion. — Did 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) not tell you why she turned to men’s circuit? Perhaps, does she aim for the men’s title? — Perhaps [laughs]. No, I wouldn’t say so. It’s just that at the moment she is more interested in men’s circuit. |
The participants in the Women’s World Chess Championship Knockout Tournament will receive their money prizes in the next few days.
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广州 (Guǎngzhōu), China: Passersby look at a giant King Kong statue in 太古汇 (Tàigǔ Huì). The 16ft likeness was built to promote the film Kong: Skull Island. Photo: VCG/Getty Images.
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On March 28, at the Central House of Chess in Moscow, Russia, Russian Chess Federation President and FIDE Vice President Andrey Vasilievich Filatov (pictured above on the right) and RATM Holding President Eduard Anatolyevich Taran (pictured above on the left) signed a partnership convention to finance scholarships for deserving and gifted young students at the Sirius Educational Centre in Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili/Russian Chess Federation.
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In the ongoing FIDE’s Greek tragedy, of course, it could not miss a principled stance by the President of European Chess Union (ECU) Zurab Azmaiparashvili:
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Well preserved T rex fossils have revealed new insights into the dinosaurs’ sex lives. Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images.
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“Every time I do something bad”
Yesterday at the supermarket I stole toothpaste The day before I plugged with chewing gum My neighbour’s keyhole Last week at the entrance door I kicked the row of trash cans One by one Every time I do something bad It feels like Life is getting a little better
任航 (Rèn Háng), March 23, 2015
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Arctic, Russia: Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin visits an ice cavern on Alexandra Land island in the remote Arctic islands of Franz Josef Land. Photo: Alexey Druzhinin/AFP/Getty Images.
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During today’s interview with Chess-News.ru Radio, Latvian Grandmaster Evgeny Ellinovich Sveshnikov gave his opinion about the clash in FIDE: “The situation is familiar to me: when you are illegally subject to sanctions, you try to attract the attention to your situation. I don’t think there is any discord between Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov and his close associates. I think it is a scene already played out. I’m not sure one hundred per cent, but I think so. Ilyumzhinov has always selected people on the basis of their loyalty rather than their business ability... And now what? Did they want to get rid of Ilyumzhinov? Obviously no. I think it is a fiction in a dramatic way. But what is implied between the lines is that they wanted to draw the attention on the sanctions issue. They opted for a theatrical form”.
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北京 (Běijīng), China: A woman riding an electric self-balancing scooter is reflected in a motorist’s wing mirror. Photo: 吳鴻 (Wú Hóng)/EPA.
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FIDE Deputy President Georgios Makropoulos, after having been repeatedly accused by FIDE President Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov of attempting a coup d’état to bypass the electoral process and wrest power by force, has finally provided a written response through the FIDE web site. He offers to prove that Ilyumzhinov actually resigned (even if only verbally) through the “recorded tape minutes of the meeting”.
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Esset, Castrice, cum mali coloris,
versus scribere coepit Oppianus. Because his pallor, Castricus, got worse, Oppianus started writing verse. Quando s’accorse d’aver brutta cera, a scriver versi incominciò Oppiano. |
Singer to accept prize in “small and intimate” Stockholm setting having turned down invitation to official ceremony last year. [Read more].
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Bob Dylan plays acoustic guitar and smokes a cigarette in this headshot from September 1961 in New York City. Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images.
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New York, United States: People carry rafts as they take part in a protest outside the Trump Building – also known as 40 Wall Street – against the government’s blocked travel ban. Photo: Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images.
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Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov: “Pressures and threats have been going on for a year. They kept saying: go away, go away, go away...”. See http://chess-news.ru/node/22911.
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Here are five superstars of Associazione Culturale “Il Delta della Luna” in the backstage area of the 2nd edition of the Charity Dance Festival “Dedicato a...”, held at the Teatro Puccini in Florence, Italy on Sunday, March 26, 2017. From left: Chiara Angelini, Silvia Bertini, Sofia Nutini, Olga Calamai, and Viola Rocchini. Photo courtesy of Chiara Angelini.
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“Mountain Climbing”
I really do not understand Why so many people Like to go mountain climbing If I ever went climbing It might be only To climb to the peak And jump me off
任航 (Rèn Háng), January 2, 2016
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Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov named the names of the “coup plotters”: Nigel Freeman and Georgios Makropoulos. See http://chess-news.ru/node/22911.
With due respect for such insurrectionists, there must be someone else too. |
Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov: “The meaning of my words is the following: ‘I am ready to leave the position of FIDE President if this is necessary for FIDE’”. For further details, see http://chess-news.ru/node/22910.
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Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov: “It looks like a power struggle of some kind, there is something not very clean behind this”. See http://tass.ru/sport/4131222.
“The opponents of FIDE President Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov are leading an unethical struggle for power inside the organization”, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma’s Committee on International Affairs and 12th World Chess Champion Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov told TASS on March 28, 2017. “It all started when Kirsan Nikolayevich was blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury; he temporarily suspended all operations and transactions, but since then the queue began to push. It looks like a power struggle of some kind, there is something not very clean behind this”. |
Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov playing a simultaneous chess exhibition. Photo: Game Wiki.
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北京 (Běijīng), China: A model presents a creation from the Chantel Gōng collection by Chinese designer 龚航宇 (Gōng Hángyǔ) during the Mercedes-Benz China Fashion Week. Photo: How Hwee Young/EPA.
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FIDE President Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov (pictured above on the right) and Russian Chess Federation President as well as FIDE Vice President Andrey Vasilievich Filatov (pictured above on the left) gave today a joint press conference at the Central House of Chess in Moscow, Russia regarding the “FIDE affaire”. Mr. Filatov began with a clear premise: “The Russian Chess Federation wholly supports Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov and is satisfied with his work as FIDE President”. Then Mr. Ilyumzhinov spoke, admitting that what he read yesterday on FIDE’s web site “sounded like a bomb” to him. He didn’t hide that he was urged to resign by the Athens Presidential Board meeting, but he strongly denied ever having signed any resignation letter. He objected that only a FIDE general assembly — and not a Presidential Board meeting, neither ordinary nor extraordinary — can legitimately “impeach” and remove a President from office, so “I’ll keep working as FIDE President until next elections in 2018”, he said. “I do my duty as FIDE President no matter what”, Ilyumzhinov said, “I don’t like intrigues and I won’t do what they did”. Finally, he lamented that FIDE Deputy President Georgios Makropoulos turned off his cell phone for all yesterday, refusing to accept his calls. As they say, gratitude is a heavy burden. Photo: Russian Chess Federation (@ruchess).
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“My love”
My love Is gone And then Came back once more But I was not at home
任航 (Rèn Háng), January 2, 2016
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Why is there no lobby for 韦奕 (Wéi Yì)?, wonders Stefan Löffler. The Chinese wonder boy, 17, one of the world’s top 30 players, didn’t yet get almost no inviatation in high-class tournaments, neither abroad nor at home. The question is not trivial. Probably 韦奕 (Wéi Yì) is not supported by a “lobby” like that – let’s say – of 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén), but maybe the real reason for the “embargo” (especially abroad) lies in his young age. I’d not exclude that Chinese officials may fear exposing such a young boy to the “bad” influences of his Western peers. Don’t think I’m joking.
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Andrey Vasilievich Filatov, President of the Russian Chess Federation and Vice President of FIDE, told TASS correspondent Andrey Fyodorovich Kartashov that the rumours surrounding the resignation of Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov as FIDE President are groundless. “It’s the first time I heard about it”, Filatov said. “And yet I am FIDE Vice President”.
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It looks like Dr. Strangelove’s war room. Pictured above is the screenshot from the FIDE web site. There we read, “Kirsan Ilyumzhinov announced his resignation as FIDE President”.
The news itself is quite astonishing, but even more amazing is the official statement of the “resigning” President: |
“I don’t know from where the news came”, Ilyumzhinov told Oleg Bogatov of R-Sport.ru. “It seems like a joke, or maybe it is only one’s wish”. Photo: RIA Novosti/Vladimir Fedorenko.
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